The present invention relates to a simulation method for a high polymer material useful for evaluating or improving filler dispersion and capable of improving the accuracy of simulation.
High polymer materials such as compounded rubber used in vehicle tires usually contain fillers such as carbon black and silica. It is well known in the art that the dispersion of fillers in a compounded rubber exerts a strong influence on properties, e.g. strength of the rubber.
In recent years, in order to evaluate the dispersion of fillers in a high polymer material, various computerized simulation (numerical calculation) methods have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-64658 discloses this kind of simulation method, wherein, as shown in FIG. 13(a), a filler model (a) representing a single filler particle (a1) and a polymer model (b) representing a plurality of polymer particles (b1) are defined, and then a molecular dynamics (MD) calculation is made for the filler models (a) and polymer models (b) placed or set in a predetermined virtual space.
In this simulation method, due to the filler model (a) which represents a single filler particle (a1), when the polymer model (b) is coupled to the filler particle (a1), as shown in FIG. 13(b), the position of the polymer model (b) relative to the filler model (a) is hard to be settled uniquely, and the polymer model (b) makes a sliding movement on the surface of the filler model (a) (or a turning movement around the filler model (a)). Thus, it is difficult to obtain accurate simulation results.